3 Classic Rock Songs That Would Be Smash Hits as 21st Century Covers

Classic rock fans are certainly yearning for a new band to come around like The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, or The Allman Brothers Band. Well, and not to be too cynical, but that is seemingly not in the cards for the foreseeable future. That is just not what the kids are into these days. Though one way in which classic rock could make a resurgence in mainstream music is if popular artists started covering some of the genre’s greatest hits. That being said, here are three classic rock songs that we think would kill as 21st-century covers.

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“Midnight Rider” by The Allman Brothers Band

Countless jam bands and alternative rock and country musicians have covered this Allman Brothers Band song live in recent years. But none of them have yet to release an official cover of the song. This is a classic rock favorite that has leaped over the boundaries of time and remained popular. So, while it doesn’t necessarily need a resurgence, we’d still love to see it happen.

Four artists we believe could make a fabulous cover of this song are The Red Clay Strays, Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds, Marcus Kind, and Billy Strings, but that version would evidently sound a bit different. To offer a little sneak peek as to what this song would sound like in the current day and age, go check out one of Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds’ live covers.

“Beast Of Burden” by The Rolling Stones

Frankly, any artist in the current day and age could cover this song, and it would become a hit. After all, The Rolling Stones still hold a lot of weight and attract listeners of all ages. However, a reimagining never hurt anybody. And that is why we’d love to see a modern artist release a cover of “Beast Of Burden”.

Our picks for the musicians who should tackle this task include Hozier, John Mayer, Jack White, and maybe even Lewis Capaldi. Any one of these musicians could take this classic song and make it into something new, all while paying homage to the original.

“I’m On Fire” by Bruce Springsteen

Again, almost anyone could take a stab at this song and not mess it up. That is because the bones of it are too strong. However, there are certainly some artists that we think could do better than others, but all in all, this is a win for everybody, because who doesn’t want to hear this Bruce Springsteen classic come back to life?

Contrary to our previous statement, we think there is one artist geared to cover this song perfectly: Sam Fender. Fender has drawn a lot of comparisons to Bruce Springsteen. And they are very merited comparisons, as the two share very similar musical chops. Though if Fender were to pass, we think some other great options would be Frank Ocean, Chris Stapleton, and John Legend.

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